Sunday, December 22, 2013

When I stumbled on this wonderful pattern "Vintage Tin" from Crabapple Hill, I knew I had to make it for someone special for Christmas. Now my big issue, was there was no where near enough time to get it done, by the time I found the pattern! What to do, What to do??

Hummm... free motion quilting, I have always loved that. Wonder if I could just free motion stitch the design.

I picked up a great tip awhile back. By cutting a dissoluble stabilizer in sheets that would fit thru my printer, I could actually scan and print the design directly onto it, saving myself from having to trace the design out. Adhering it to the front of my fabric allows me to stitch just like normal. The added plus is that it gives you extra stability, so hooping really isn't necessary. Once it's all done, a quick soak in water makes all the stabilizer disappear. That is just about the greatest tip, I have ever used. Not only a time saver, but I don't have to worry about mis-tracing anything. :-)

I did use a heavy quilting thread for my top thread, so it would show up better, since I was not going to be hand embroidering it. I do a lot of jumping around. It's much easier for me to trim out of the jump threads, than stop and start all the time.

Here are some of the blocks...

You can see that it isn't quite the same as hand embroidery...

But it certainly is an option that works!

Especially if you are in a real time crunch!

I do love the detail of this pattern. So many little things that any car guy would pick up on, for sure!

:-)

Lots of fun things for the guys
and a great stash buster for the quilter!
Can there be a better combo?

And to top it all off, this fun little label is included with the pattern.

Too fun!

I put this on my longarm once it was done and ran a simple little pantograph over it all.

It's not for the purest for sure, but in a pinch, it worked out well.

Thank goodness, my guys are not connoisseurs, they wouldn't notice or appreciate all the hand work that went into it anyway! LOL!!

Let the holidays begin.

Wishing you all the very Merriest of Christmas's and a Happy New Year!

Monday, December 16, 2013

You know it's all worth it, when you find that one of your quilts were just "loved to death".

I asked my brother to take pictures of the quilt his little one has dragged around for years. Pretty sad, it is!

It was made from scraps, 6 or 7 years ago. I scrounged to find enough fabric to make the darn thing. It really was just a bonus quilt in my mind. But in the mind of a 2 year old, it was his new best friend.

It's been everywhere he has, and he never goes to sleep without it. Even getting it away from him to wash, was a challenge. Trying to sneak it out at night after he went to sleep, didn't work out well for them. Ended up when it was time, he would pull up a chair and sit in front of the washer and dryer and not leave until he had it in his hands again! LOL! Now that is real love, I'd say.

Somebody has a birthday this week, and guess what????

There is a new twin size, big boy quilt that he is getting. I was thrilled to find this flannel.. You couldn't get much closer to the original one I used.

Whimsical and Wonky

It's a Wild Life BOM

BOO-BOM

Snow Much Fun

Brewtiful Mugs BOM

Barnyard Bash

Gnome for the Holidays

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About Me

I've been stitching for over 50 years now and my goal is to inspire and entertain you down this "crazy" quilting road we all love to travel! Feel free to join in, and for heavens sake...don't let those crazy hats scare you. We all need a good laugh!